All About The Workout Hero Club

and how I, it’s Founder, transformed from chubby hubby/dad bod to hot hubby (according to wifey 😉 ) even though I am in my 40’s and super busy

Hello there, gentle Reader, Erick here…

… I am the founder of the Workout Hero Club, and creator of the “Never Skip Dessert” Meal Plan.

That Meal Plan… plus a new & unique way of working out I discovered… was the missing secret to my own weight loss transformation.

More on that later, don’t you worry…

… but first you probably want to know a bit about me, don’t cha? (shout out to that Brett Eldredge classic country song) 🙂

*(Great… not sure about you, but now I have that song stuck in my head… apologies) 🙂

The journey for our paths crossing here actually started way back when I was a wee little “chunky” lad

My weight struggles began in childhood when I was a “good eater” as the grown-ups would say.

But really it was me eating a lot of my emotions that stemmed from anger, loneliness and self-hatred.

I would always wear shirts that were about 3 sizes too big for me to hide my fat. Like in this picture here…

(I had to search pretty hard to find this picture because growing up in the 80’s and poor, we didn’t take too many pictures… not like we do today!) 😀

Being a fat kid only made me more of a target for the bullies and I got beat up all the time. That only made my emotional eating issues worse.

I grew up a fat, geeky loser.

I didn’t have many friends and never got any attention from the girls. 

I did manage to get a girlfriend in college, and she was my first for everything.

We were together for a few years and that was when I was at my heaviest.

I was at least a 100+ pounds overweight when she broke my heart and dumped my fat butt. 

I was so devastated and heartbroken. 😢

My whole world was wrapped up in her and didn’t want to live if I couldn’t have her, so had to fight off suicidal thoughts during this dark time.

I blamed my fatness for why she broke up with me because how could anyone love someone so fat and gross. 

That’s when I vowed that I would lose the weight and make her jealous.

Maybe then she would want me back and I wouldn’t be in so much pain.

however, I knew very little about nutrition or dieting.

But I knew I had to do something.

Keep in mind this was in the early 2000’s, with the Internet being in its infancy days, so the best source of information I found was in magazines, like Men’s Health or Men’s Fitness.

From them I learned how to workout and eat right.  

I was so heartbroken and miserable that I just took wild action and just got after it.

I worked out pretty much everyday.

soon I started seeing results – on the scale, in the mirror, and also me not being miserably heartbroken 24-7. 

This is where I first fell in love with health and fitness.

Because it not only saved me from a broken heart — but it saved my life. I don’t know what I would have done in that dark time if not for fitness. 

Within about 7 months, I had lost around 80 pounds, put on some muscle and actually liked what I saw in the mirror.

I started getting attention from girls.

Had guys give me respect and were a bit jealous of me. Wishing they had girls checking them out like they were with me. 

For the first time in my life, I was actually glad to be alive and glad that I didn’t kill myself.

side note: (I won’t tell you here whether I did end up winning my ex back, because that’s a story for a different day.)

Rather I gained something even more valuable – I learned that I didn’t need her to feel happy. 

Soon I had others around me asking “what my secret was”

I shared with them a few things — They started applying what I was teaching and it was very rewarding to hear about the results they were having. 

One mom in particular lost a bunch of weight from when I was basically Personal Training her for free.

She wrote me a letter about how much that weight loss mattered to her. How it helped her be a better mom and not feel so self-conscious in the bedroom when being naked with her husband. 

I remember reading that letter and feeling so moved. “Walking on sunshine” and being on “Cloud 9” for weeks after knowing that I helped her do that.

It was one of the first times in my life that I felt like I mattered. 

So I decided to become a Personal Trainer to help make a difference in more lives like mine was.

I loved being a Personal Trainer.

That led to me getting into Bodybuilding and doing shows to get outside my comfort zone so that I could inspire others.    

Being a Trainer is actually how I met the woman that would become my wife, Bethany.

She was my client for a little while and it was love at first sight for both of us and so we started dating.

However, a little while into our relationship was when my fitness started to slip and I gained a lot of weight.

I had left the gym I was working at to do my own thing after feeling the entrepreneurial Call.

But…

Lots of stress,

being busy,

lack of motivation

and having all sorts of responsibilities…

… all led to me “letting myself go”.

I was a shell of my former self a few years into our marriage.

Here’s what I looked like in the beginning when we met – 

From there I gained around 65 pounds of fat, and lost all of my muscle.

Here’s what I looked like a few years into our marriage after “letting myself go”

Talk about yucky “muffin top” going on, right?

Boy, am I ever lucky I married the most amazing woman I’ve ever met and she wasn’t with me for my “looks”.

Totally had the “chubby-hubby/ dad bod” going on.

I was wracked with guilt and shame. Feeling like my best days were behind me. 

That I was washed-up. 

I avoided scales and mirrors like the plague. I wasn’t the best husband to the Mrs.

… had no energy and was tired all the time.

Right around the end of 2019 was when I really hit rock bottom.

It was the end of a long day and I was settling in for the night about to go to bed.

Suddenly my wife walked into our room with tears running down her face. 

“I need to talk to you.” She said.

It was obvious something was wrong, so I replied with, “Okay, lay it on me.”

I sat up and braced for the worse.

I was freaking out… My heart was pounding out of my chest.

My hands were shaking. My breathing was rapid.  I started sweating a bit.

Terror had its talons in me and wasn’t letting up.

I didn’t think I did anything wrong, but who knows, I’m kind of an idiot when it comes to this “understanding women” stuff. 

After wiping away her tears, she began sharing how unhappy she was with her body and weight.

As she was confessing her pain, I couldn’t help but feel that it was all my fault.

Being a Personal Trainer and “fitness guy” for much of the last 10 years, I should have been a positive influence on her.

I should have been the model for her to follow.

Instead… I was the WORST influence on her. I hardly worked out. I ate like crap all the time – ice cream, chips, pizza, pasta, cookies, candy.

If it tasted good, I ate it, and most of the time it was more than I should have.

Constant stress eating.

I knew I shouldn’t but I felt powerless to stop.

I would try to be good, but would “Fall Off The Wagon” again and again. 

I planned my clothes changing around making sure she never saw me shirtless. Lovemaking had to be pitch dark and me under the covers because I didn’t want her to see my fat belly and how disgusting I felt.

I felt like I was failing her as a husband too.

Our marriage wasn’t as good as it could be — I had made a promise to her on our wedding day to be the best husband I could and I knew I was failing at that

I felt so much guilt and shame… 

That fateful night she said that she was going to do something about the weight she had gained.

That she was going on a weight loss journey. 

I was certainly in support but I knew I had to do more because I felt it was my fault my true love was in this painful boat.

I had to reclaim my past hotness and get my body back.

To screw the excuses and b.s. and lose the extra weight in honor of the person I love the most.

To have her look at me again like she used to when we first met…

So I hit the gym and meal planning but I made every mistake there is.

I made it way harder on myself and it took far longer than it should have.

I was older now, and didn’t have as much time to workout… so the Old, Broken ways of working out and meal planning weren’t working.

I was stuck at a plateau for months… but then I discovered a unique way to workout that was great for those that are over 30 and are busy.

Which led to the creation of my “Never Skip Dessert” Meal Plan.

With the help of those discoveries…

…I lost 65 pounds of fat, and put on around 20 pounds of muscle

It took about 10-11 months, and had I known what you’re about to discover, I probably could have done it in half that time. 

Here’s what I looked like after my transformation…

As you can see, I got my abs back! 

Not as good as back in my bodybuilding days (and less tanned! 😀) but considering I’m now in my 40’s, not bad for an “old man”, right?

One morning after my transformation, I walked into our bedroom where my wife was still laying there.

I had just showered and was just wearing a towel.

She saw me shirtless and her jaw dropped…

“Wow, hun, you’re looking REAL good,” she excitedly said.

Needless to say, it was a good morning after that. 😉😉

It wasn’t all about having abs and looking good though…

…since fitness isn’t the most important thing in the world to me these days.

For me, the most important thing is my family and I transformed into the kind of husband my amazing wife deserves.

Her attraction towards me is back and our marriage is now stronger than ever.

I love feeling desirable again in her eyes. 

So much in fact, that we ended up getting pregnant and having our first child soon after my transformation! 

His name is Kason and…

… I love that little guy so much and mere words don’t even begin to express it.

He’s growing up WAY TOO FAST TOO! 🙂

At the time of writing this we are currently working on baby #2, and thanks to what I now know, I have the confidence to help make that happen!😀 

After transforming into the kind of husband my perfect wife deserves,

…. and the father my son needs…

… I had an interesting decision to make, my dear Reader of this ‘About’ page… 

… I didn’t plan on opening up a new gym and help others get into shape.

… but things happened in my life that it was painfully obvious that God was Calling me to do just that. 

Let’s just say that I had lots of signs given to me by God for the direction He wanted my life to go.

>> But I didn’t want to. 

I was scared. 

Too many things about running a fitness business that I didn’t know.

Stuff I didn’t think I was very good at.

I knew it was going to be hard and difficult.  

However, there was something about becoming a Father that changed me for the better…

… One day, when he is old enough, I plan to teach my kiddo about bravery and courage. 

How courage isn’t about not having fear…

… it’s about feeling that fear and…

… doing it anyways – when you know it’s the right thing to do. 

To choose faith over fear. 🙏

How can I teach him that, if in my heart of hearts I wasn’t living it myself. 

I didn’t want my son to find out that his dad was a coward and a hypocrite.

That was more painful to me than starting this business. 

It’s because of that, and me feeling Called by God to share these secrets with you, that I founded the Workout Hero Club. 

Whenever you’re ready, whether you are just starting out or…

… already an experienced gym-goer…

… I’d loved to meet up and see if me and my methodologies can help you on your own health/fitness journey.

To do that you can schedule what’s called a “No Sweat Intro”

At your “No Sweat Intro” you’ll discover all about these secrets I want to show you to help you lose weight without giving up your favorite foods or doing workouts that suck.

From there, I’ll show you the gym, the workouts, the meal plans.

We’ll chat and I’ll get to know you, your goals, and if I think I can help you with them or not.

This is NOT a high-pressure sales presentation. But rather more so an introduction to what I hope will be a long and meaningful relationship.

Whole thing takes around 15-20 minutes.

Thank you for hearing my story and I hope it helps.

Remember, when you are rocking life as a Workout Hero – your awesome future awaits!

p.s.

I watched a documentary about child sex trafficking that completely opened my eyes to this unspeakable horror, and I wasn’t the same after that.

Because of that, a strong percentage of our profits goes in support of Operation Underground Railroad — they are the big-time heroes in this world. 💖 🙏